Special Dementia Training Series Helps Prepare First Responders for Crises

In emergencies, every second counts. Yet first responders who lack training in engaging with individuals living with dementia can encounter unexpected challenges and critical delays. That’s a situation Balfour Cherrywood Village Memory Care, a Kisco Collection, hoped to prevent by hosting a recent dementia training series for the Louisville Fire and EMS department. In partnership with Balfour Louisville and Balfour Longmont, the collaboration helped first responders learn how to effectively engage with individuals living with dementia during a crisis.

Read on to learn how this forward-thinking innovative came to life, and how it empowers senior care facilities to support not only residents, but the wider communities they serve.

Developing the Training Series

Brenda Gurung, CMDCPT, CMDCP, VDTAT, MIM, National Director of Memory Care for Kisco Senior Living

Kisco Senior Living works with first responders throughout all of its communities, and developing this training series was an important way to give back to first responders on a deeper level. “We wanted to provide a curated, targeted training for them in their line of work, not only to benefit our own residents or associates but also for the broader community at large that they serve,” says Brenda Gurung, CMDCPT, CMDCP, VDTAT, MIM, a Montessori-credentialed dementia specialist and National Director of Memory Care for Kisco Senior Living who also oversees the Heirloom Memory Care program across 31 communities in 11 states. “It was important to us to be a strategic partner and to give valuable resources and training to them.”

Dementia affects more than memory, and can impact visual perception changes, decision-making, impulse control, and how a person perceives themselves. In a crisis or urgent situation, first responders need to take these factors into account to provide effective and safe care. The training gave first responders the skills and knowledge needed to do just that.

Creating the training was a team effort among the Balfour at Cherrywood Village, Balfour at Louisville, and Balfour at Longmont communities. Team members, including care services directors, who are clinical leaders in the communities, as well as life enrichment associates, Heirloom Memory Care leaders, frontline associates, and others all contributed to the collaborative approach.

The training program is based on Kisco Senior Living’s Heirloom Memory Care curriculum, which is based on human-centered research, empathy, and connection. “We designed our own training curriculum for our associates that meets and exceeds state regulatory guidelines,” explains Gurung. “So we modified this curriculum to be specifically intended for first responders and their needs and how they operate in their work to ensure the training was accessible, practical and meaningful to them.”

Delivering the Training

Gurung describes the training as being “compact but effective,” with first responders having the opportunity to ask questions, interact, and gain experiential learning to solidify the material. “We targeted two-hour increments and spaced those out across a week to be able to reach approximately 35 first responders on all different shifts while still ensuring that first responders were available to assist the local broader community,” she says.

The training included use of the Virtual Dementia Tour, a research-based immersive experiential dementia training experience. “We utilize the Virtual Dementia Tour because of its robust research basis and because of the significant immersive experience,” says Gurung. “We offer it to all of our associates, as well as to professionals and families associated with our communities, and it was an important part of the first responder training because it really helps people to feel and get a sense of what it may be like to be on a dementia journey yourself.” She notes that after people experience the Virtual Dementia Tour, they often have a broader sense of empathy.

The feedback received indicates that the training was a success, with first responders explaining that they hadn’t received such training and that they were able to immediately apply it to their work. “In fact, in one case, a first responder said that they had incorporated the training the very next day on a call with a member in the broader community,” says Gurung.

Given the success and the desire to share the knowledge that Kisco Senior Living and Balfour Senior Living have, the communities are in the process of scheduling similar trainings for first responders serving the communities across the country where Kisco Senior Living communities are located. “This is just the tip of the iceberg and we are so excited,” Gurung explains. “As professionals and as humans, we so appreciate our first responders and want to do something meaningful to support them and their efforts.”

Strategies for Other Communities Developing Trainings

Gurung explains that investing the hours and numerous associates in hosting the trainings was a significant effort. “We intentionally took a number of months to prepare the curriculum, to work with our teams, to train our teams so that everybody had a positive experience and that the quality training was there,” she says. While creating and delivering the training required a significant investment of staff and time, the experience gave the staff a chance to become closer as teams within communities and across the communities.

Gurung recommends that communities considering holding a similar training start by creating a clear memory care and training philosophy within their own organization. “It is not enough to simply create an outreach event, but you have to do the real hard work yourself for your teams and for your residents and families first,” she says.

Kisco Senior Living spent much of last year developing and rolling out the Heirloom Memory Care Program. Once confident in what they had created in the training, they offered it to their own associates, and then started to share it outwards, including for first responders. In doing so, the community has become a valuable partner for first responders, deepening that relationship while also helping first responders respond to calls involving individuals living with dementia who may reside outside of a senior care community. It’s a fantastic example of how senior care facilities can support not only their residents, but also the greater community.

Paige Cerulli

Paige Cerulli is a contributing writer to i Advance Senior Care.